Assisted seismic measuring system including gps receivers

ABSTRACT

A system for analyzing three-dimensional seismic data includes a plurality of digitizer units, each with a configuration of geophones, a data recording and control center, a base GPS receiver with an associated antenna with a substantially unrestricted view of the sky and at the respective digitizer units low-power slave GPS receivers that acquire and track GPS satellite signals using tracking assistance information provided by the base GPS receiver. The slave GPS receivers use the tracking assistance information to acquire and track GPS satellite signals that may be relatively weak at the receivers, due to conditions at the site, such as foliage canopies and so forth. The system processes range information provided by the slave GPS receivers over an extended period of time. In this way, the precise positions of the respective slave GPS receivers, and thus, the digitizer units, can be calculated, even if the slave GPS receivers are able to observe and collect data from sets of two or more satellites for only three or four relatively short time intervals at various sky positions during the extended period. The slave GPS receivers then locally produce for the digitizer units timing signals that are based on the GPS codes and synchronized across the system. If a given slave GPS receiver cannot, at a given time, track any GPS satellite signals, a nearby slave GPS receiver supplies the timing information required for the geophone data gathering operations.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation application of U.S.application Ser. No. 10/891,800, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. ______ onOct. 3, 2006, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 60/488,124, which was filed on Jul. 17, 2003, byPatrick C. Fenton for A SEISMIC MEASURING SYSTEM INCLUDING GPS RECEIVERSand is hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to seismic data collection systems and,in particular, to systems for collecting and analyzing three-dimensionalseismic data.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Systems for analyzing three-dimensional seismic data collect seismicmeasurements from configurations of geophones that are attached to andcommunicate with digitizer units (DUs), which that produce signals thatcorrespond to the seismic measurements. The DUs, which are placed atselected locations along cables that span a site of interest, takereadings from the configurations of geophones and send correspondingsignals over the cables to a data recording and control center. The datais used to determine, for example, the likelihood that oil reserves arepresent on the site. A typical site may include thousands of DUs, eachwith an associated configuration of geophones.

Setting up and operating the measurement system is both time consumingand complex. The locations of the DUs must be known to within tightvertical and horizontal accuracy limits, and generally, the locations ofthe respective DUs are individually determined using optical surveytechniques, GPS RTK “back-pack” systems or GPS/INS systems. In addition,the sites can no longer be cleared, that is, foliage cannot be removedat the selected locations of the DUs, and thus, the process ofdetermining the locations of the DUs is made even more time consumingand complex when lines of sight are blocked.

The geophone readings taken by the DUs must be synchronized to withintight timing limits. In prior known systems, timing signals are sentalong the cables and readings are taken at the various DUs in responseto the signals. Accordingly, the lengths of the respective cables arelimited, to avoid associated timing signal delays. Consequently, thearea that can be tested at a given time is also limited by the lengthsof the cables.

What is needed is a system that can be set up in a less time consumingmanner and operate accurately over larger areas.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system for analyzing three-dimensional seismic data includes, inaddition to the DUs, the geophones and the data recording and controlcenter, a base GPS receiver and an associated antenna with asubstantially unrestricted view of the sky and at the respective DUslow-power slave GPS receivers that acquire and track GPS satellitesignals using tracking assistance information provided by the base GPSreceiver. Using the tracking assistance information, the slave GPSreceivers can acquire and track GPS satellite signals that may berelatively weak at the receivers, due to conditions at the site, such asfoliage canopies, and so forth. Further, as discussed below, the systemoperates the slave GPS receivers and processes associated rangeinformation such that the precise positions of the respective DUs arecalculated and synchronized timing information is provided to each DU,even if the sky views of the respective slave GPS receivers aresubstantially reduced.

To determine the precise positions of a given DU, the associated slaveGPS receiver uses the tracking assistance information to acquire andtrack GPS satellite signals from those satellites that are in thereceiver's view. The slave GPS receiver then produces associated rangeinformation and provides the information to the data recording andcontrol center. The data recording and control center collects the rangeinformation over an extended period of time, such as hours or days, asnecessary. The center then batch processes the information, to produce asingle computed position. By processing the information collected overan extended period of time, the system can determine the position of theslave GPS receiver to within the tight vertical and horizontaltolerances required for seismic measurements, as long as the slave GPSreceiver is able to observe and collect data from at least twosatellites simultaneously for 3 or 4 relatively short time intervals atvarious sky positions during the extended period. The batch processingthus eliminates the need to continuously track the GPS satellite signalsand/or to track the signals from the same set of satellites over therespective intervals.

The data recording and control center thereafter provides the precisecomputed positions to the respective slave GPS receivers. The slave GPSreceivers then use the position information and the tracking assistanceinformation provided by the base GPS receiver to produce synchronizedtiming signals for use in controlling the collection of seismic datafrom the geophones. The timing signals include a 1 pulse per secondstrobe, which is tied to the codes in the GPS satellite signals, and theassociated RS-232 time tag data. The timing signals remain synchronizedover the system as long as a number of the slave GPS receiversindividually continue to track the signals from at least one GPSsatellite during a geophone data gathering operation. The slave GPSreceivers that are tracking during the data gathering operation providesynchronized timing signals over the connecting cables to theneighboring non-tracking slave GPS slave receivers. Accordingly, thelimit on cable lengths is essentially between the respective slave GPSreceivers. This is in contrast to known prior systems in which the limiton the cable length must be met between the respective DUs and thecontrol center.

The system thus provides precise positioning information for therespective DUs and synchronized timing signals for the collection ofdata from the geophones using relatively inexpensive slave GPS receiversthat have their acquisition and tracking performance enhanced by thetracking assistance information provided by a single base GPS receiver.Further, the system produces the precise positioning information and thesynchronized timing signals in an environment in which GPS receiversoperating in a conventional manner typically can not do so, because of,for example, foliage cover that interferes with the receipt of the GPSsatellite signals at the respective GPS receivers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention description below refers to the accompanying drawings, ofwhich:

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a seismic measuring systemconstructed in accordance with the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a deformation monitoring systemconstructed in accordance with the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENT

Referring to the FIG. 1, a system 100 for collecting and analyzingseismic measurements is depicted. The system 100 includes a plurality ofgeophones 8 that supply seismic data to a data recording and controlcenter 12 through DUs 7. The DUs are located in selected locations overa site of interest and are connected to the center by cables 14. Thecenter 12 includes one or more workstations 2 and data storage devices 1that process and store the data collected by the geophones. The signalsfrom various cables 14 (only one of which is shown in the drawing) aresupplied to the one or more workstations 2 through a multiplexer 4,which operates in a conventional manner. The system generally includesthousands of DUs, each with an associated configuration of geophones.

The data recording and control center 12 further includes a base GlobalPositioning System (GPS) receiver 3 that receives signals from variousGPS satellites 9 using a base GPS antenna 13, which is positioned tohave a clear view of the sky. As depicted in the drawing, an elevatedtower 5 may be necessary to provide the GPS antenna 13 with a clear skyview. Slave GPS receivers 6, which may be relatively inexpensive lowpower L1 receivers, are located at the respective DUs 7. As discussed inmore detail below, the slave GPS receivers 6 provide range informationto the data recording and control center 12 and synchronized datacollection timing signals to the DUs 7. As also depicted in the drawing,certain or all of the slave GPS receivers 6 are located under or nearvarious trees 11, such that at any given time the signals 10 from GPSsatellites 9 in certain sky locations may be unavailable or weakened atvarious slave GPS receivers.

The base GPS receiver 3 acquires and tracks the signals 10 from each ofthe GPS satellites in view, and at various times provides to the slaveGPS receivers related tracking assistance information. The base GPSreceiver provides as the tracking assistance information at least a listof the satellites then in view, and the associated Doppler frequencyoffsets and broadcast data symbols. The slave GPS receivers then use thetracking assistance information to acquire and track the signals fromthe various satellites using tracking loops with relatively narrowbandwidths. This allows the respective slave GPS receivers to utilizeGPS satellite signals that are weak at the receivers. For example, theslave GPS receivers may acquire and track signals that are 10 to 15 dBlower than the signals required by GPS receivers operating in aconventional manner, that is, without tracking assistance.

Each slave GPS receiver 6 produces range information based on thesatellite signals that the receiver can track at a given time, and thereceiver provides the range information to the data recording andcontrol center 12. The range information includes both code and carriertiming information for each of the signals being tracked. The centercollects the range information over an extended period of time, forexample, hours, days or weeks, and then batch processes the collectedinformation, to calculate the precise latitude, longitude and height ofthe receiver. The center also calculates the quality of the collectedrange information, to ensure that the information used in the batchposition calculations is sufficiently reliable, as discussed in moredetail below.

As long as the slave GPS receiver has tracked at least two satellitessimultaneously for 3 or 4 relatively short time intervals at differentsky locations during the extended period, the batch processing of therange information calculates the position of the slave GPS receiver towithin the tolerances required for seismic measurement. The batchprocessing thus allows the system to calculate the precise positions ofthe slave receivers without requiring that the slave GPS receivercontinuously track the GPS satellite signals from multiple satellitesand/or track the signals from the same set GPS satellites.

The data recording and control center 12 batch processes the range datacollected from a given fixed-position slave GPS receiver, to compute asingle position, i.e., latitude, longitude and height, and an associatedposition covariance. The batch processing involves multiple passesthrough the collected range data, with a first pass using all of thecollected data, that is, all of the pseudorange and carrier phaseinformation, to produce a global position estimate that is expected tobe accurate to within 30 to 60 meters. As discussed, the accuracy isadversely affected by the overall quality of the range data. The rangedata is produced based on signals from the satellites that are in theview of the receiver at various times over an extended time period, thatis, over a number of hours, days, and so forth. Generally, it isexpected that range data will be collected over a period of between 8and 24 hours. With slave GPS receiver's restricted view of the sky,because of foliage or other partial coverage, the receiver may not havethe same set of satellites in view over much of the extended periodand/or may not have more than one satellite in view at particular times.Further, some of satellite signals may be distorted by large multipathcomponents attributed to signals that are reflected to the receiver bythe foliage or other nearby obstructions.

As a next pass through the data, the data recording and control centerrefines the calculated position and position covariance using only thecarrier phase measurements, which are less susceptible to multipathinterference. The receiver starts with the estimated position andposition covariance from the first pass and, in what is a computationintensive manner, resolves carrier cycle ambiguities to determineupdated estimated positions and associated position covariances. Theestimated position and the associated position covariance are updated atevery code epoch in which two or more satellites are in view of thereceiver, that is, when double differences can be calculated to resolvecarrier cycle ambiguities. The accuracy of the position estimate at theend of the second pass is expected to be within 3 to 6 meters, with mostof the error attributable to the height component.

The third pass through the data holds the position and positioncovariance fixed to the best estimate from pass two and, based on thecarrier phase measurement, looks for perceived movement. The processingthen selects for further processing data that are associated with littleor no perceived movement. The processing may also selectively weightvarious data used in the further processing.

More specifically, the third pass processing calculates residuals of thedouble differenced carrier phase measurements with respect to the fixedposition, and determines if the residuals show perceived movement. Theresiduals are accumulated over intervals in which there is continuity inthe carrier phase measurement, that is, over periods in which there isno loss of lock or cycle slip. The processing determines measurementdata is valid over a given interval if the sum of the squares of theresiduals falls below a normalized threshold, and also, the rate ofgrowth of the sum of the squares falls below a predetermined threshold.If both conditions are not met, the processing flags the associatedseries of carrier measurements as invalid for the entire intervalbetween cycle slips. The processing may also assign weights to therespective measurements that are deemed valid. Thus, the processing mayde-weight certain measurements to prevent correlated multipath errors,i.e., non-white noise errors, from adversely affecting the furtherprocessing. The de-weighting may, for example, take the form of usingfewer of the measurements over a particular code epoch, i.e., one out ofevery four measurements, or using a larger standard deviation in theassociated calculations.

The processing then recalculates the estimated position based on theresults of the third pass. The system thus eliminates from thecalculations the measurements that are flagged as invalid and assignsappropriate weights to the remaining measurements, and produces a newposition estimate and associated position covariance.

The processing system next holds the position and position covariancefixed at the new estimates and repeats the third pass, that is, theprocessing step of determining the validity of and weightings for themeasurements based on the associated residuals. In this step the systemmay accept as good measurements particular measurements that showedperceived movement relative to the prior estimated position and positioncovariance but do not with respect to the new estimates. The processingsystem then determines a next estimated position and associated positioncovariance using the updated weighting and validity determinations, andcontinues iterating in this manner, i.e., determining new weightings anda next estimate of position, until the estimated height changes by lessthan a predetermined threshold between iterations.

The batch processing operations are discussed in more detail inco-pending U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/588,099, entitledMETHOD FOR POSITIONING USING GPS IN A RESTRICTIVE COVERAGE ENVIRONMENT,and further identified by attorney matter number 016437-0218R, which isassigned to a common assignee and incorporated herein in its entirety byreference.

The batch processing performed by the system differs substantially fromthe processing performed in known assisted GPS, or A-GPS, systems, whichalso referred to as e911 systems. The A-GPS systems allow a GPS receiverin a cellular telephone essentially to determine an “instantaneous”position fix to within approximately 100 meters based on fastacquisition and tracking of signals simultaneously from 3 or 4 GPSsatellites. The A-GPS systems are not designed to and do not meet thetight tolerances required for seismic measuring.

Referring still to FIG. 1, once the data recording and control center 12has calculated the positions of the respective slave GPS receivers 6 towithin the necessary tolerances, the center provides the positions tothe receivers. The slave GPS receivers 6 then use their positions andthe tracking assistance information supplied by the base GPS receiver toproduce synchronized 1 pulse per second timing signals that correspondto the timing of the codes in the received GPS satellite signals andalso produce the associated RS-232 time tag message associated with the1 pulse per second signal. The DUs use the timing signals (1 pulse persecond and time tag message) to control the collection of data from thegeophones. A given slave GPS receiver need only track the signals from asingle GPS satellite at any given time in order to produce timingsignals that are tied to the GPS codes, and thus, the DUs and associatedslave GPS receivers should be able to maintain their timing signals insynchronism across the entire system.

If at any given time one or more slave GPS receivers 6 fail to track thesatellite signals, the system will still be able to gather data from thegeophones by providing synchronized timing signals from nearby trackingslave GPS receivers to the non-tracking slave GPS receivers over theconnecting cables 14. The slave GPS receivers may each send timinginformation over the cables, such that a given receiver can use its owntiming information or the received timing information, as appropriate.The received timing signals remain synchronized as long as the receiverproviding the timing signals is within approximately 1 kilometer of thereceiver that must rely on the received signals.

An alternative configuration of the system may use one of the receiverssituated at the DUs as the source of the tracking assistanceinformation. Thus, if a DU is located where there is a relatively clearview of the sky, the installer may configure this receiver to supply thetracking assistance information to the various slave GPS receivers.Accordingly, in this configuration, the base GPS receiver 3, base GPSantenna 13 and the elevating tower 5 may not be necessary. Asappropriate, the system may instead use two or more of the receiverssituated at the DUs as sources of the tracking assistance information,with selected receivers being the source of the tracking assistanceinformation for GPS satellites in particular regions of the sky.

The system, in either configuration, may also be used to performdeformation monitoring. Deformation monitoring checks the movements ofessentially fixed points of interest, such as bridges, dams, buildings,pipelines, and so forth, that may be located on potentially unstableground. Referring now to FIG. 2, the deformation monitoring system 200includes one or more base GPS receivers 3 with clear views to the skythat provide tracking assistance information and a plurality of slaveGPS receivers 6 that act as monitoring devices. The slave GPS receiversare rigidly attached by poles 72 to a pipe 71, which is buried. Signalreceivers 70 provide signals to and receive signals from the GPSreceivers 6 and the cables 14. The data recording and control center 12collects range information from the respective base and slave GPSreceivers and batch processes the range information, to determine theprecise positions of the respective slave GPS receivers along the pipe71. The respective slave receivers continue to track the satellitesignals, with the tracking assistance provided by the base GPS receiveror receivers, and provide range information to the data recording andcontrol center. The center then determines if there are changes in thepositions of the respective slave GPS receivers that indicatedeformation.

The signal receivers 70 in the deformation monitoring system may alsoprovide to the data recording and control center 12 other types ofmeasurement data from secondary measurement devices, such strain gaugesor tilt meters (not shown) that are attached to pipe 71. For this typeof data, the data recording and control center may provide timingsignals over the cables 14 to time tag movement “events,” such asearthquakes. Should the system require measurement timing signals withmore precision than can be provided over the cables, for themeasurements made by these or other secondary devices, the system mayinstead use timing signals produced by the slave GPS receivers.

The system described above, whether used for seismic measurement ordeformation monitoring, has as one of its advantages locally producing,at each slave GPS receiver, timing signals that are synchronized overthe entire system. As discussed, cable length limitations are avoided byproviding timing signals from a neighboring slave GPS receiver to aslave GPS receiver that has lost its timing signal by failing tocontinuously track the GPS satellites. Further, the slave GPS receiversproduce the timing signals in environments with restricted sky views,using the tracking assistance information provided by the base GPSreceivers, and thus, can operate in areas in which conventional GPSreceivers are ineffective. These advantages are provided regardless ofhow the precise positions of the slave GPS receivers are determined.Thus, certain or all of the advantages of the system are achieved usingother batch processing techniques to determine the precise positions ofthe slave GPS receivers or determining the positions using conventional,though time and labor intensive, methods such as surveying.

Also, the system may operate without providing the tracking assistanceinformation to the slave GPS receivers. In these operations the base GPSreceiver provides to the data recording and control center rangeinformation, that is, pseudorange and carrier measurement information,to be used in the double difference calculations made during the batchprocessing. The slave GPS receivers initially operate in a conventionalmanner to acquire and track satellite signals from the satellites inview. The slave GPS receivers provide the associated range informationto the data recording and control center and the center performs thebatch processing, as discussed above. Thereafter, the center providesthe slave GPS receivers with the position information, and the slave GPSreceivers continue to acquire and track the satellite signals based onthis position information. The slave GPS receivers operating in thismanner, i.e., without tracking assistance, will have more difficultycontinuously tracking the satellite signals. Accordingly, more of theslave GPS receivers will require timing signals from nearby receivers inorder to provide synchronized timing signals to the DUs. However, thesystem operating in this manner is able to determine the precisepositions of the slave GPS receivers, although the length of theextended period required to collect the range information will be longerwhen the tracking assistance is not provided to the slave GPS receivers.

1. A seismic measurement system including: a plurality of digitizerunits and associated geophones for collecting data relating to seismicactivities; a base GPS receiver and an associated antenna with asubstantial view of the sky, the base GPS receiver acquiring andtracking GPS satellite signals and producing range information; aplurality of slave GPS receivers, one at the location of each digitizerunit, the slave GPS receivers acquiring and tracking GPS satellitesignals and producing range information; and a data recording andcontrol center for collecting the range information over an extendedperiod of time and batch processing the information to calculate thepositions of the respective slave GPS receivers and associated digitizerunits, and collecting and analyzing the data provided by the respectivedigitizer units to produce seismic measurements.
 2. The system of claim1 wherein the base GPS receiver provides tracking assistance informationrelating to GPS satellites in view; and the slave GPS receivers utilizethe tracking assistance information in acquiring and tracking signalsfrom the GPS satellites.
 3. The system of claim 2 wherein the slave GPSreceivers further produce timing signals to control the timing of datacollection by the digitizer units.
 4. The system of claim 2 wherein thedata recording and control center returns the calculated positions tothe respective slave GPS receivers, and the respective slave GPSreceivers utilize the calculated positions and the tracking assistanceinformation to acquire and track signals from at least one GPS satelliteand produce timing signals that are tied to the timing of the codes inthe tracked GPS satellite signal.
 5. The system of claim 1 wherein thebase GPS receiver is situated at the location of one of the digitizerunits.
 6. The system of claim 3 wherein a digitizer unit that isassociated with a slave GPS receiver that is not then tracking a GPSsatellite signal uses timing signals provided by a nearby slave GPSreceiver that is tracking at least one GPS satellite signal.
 7. Thesystem of claim 1 wherein the antenna associated with the base GPSreceiver is located on a tower.
 8. The system of claim 1 whereinrespective slave GPS receivers have restricted views of the sky.
 9. Thesystem of claim 2 wherein the tracking assistance information includes alist of satellites in view, and associated Doppler frequency offsets andbroadcast data symbols.
 10. A seismic measurement system including: aplurality of digitizer units and associated geophones for collectingdata relating to seismic activities; one or more base GPS receivers withsubstantial views of at least portions of the sky, the one or more baseGPS receivers providing tracking assistance information relating to GPSsatellites in view; a plurality of slave GPS receivers at the remaininglocations of the digitizer units, the slave GPS receivers utilizing thetracking assistance information to acquire and track signals from theGPS satellites and produce timing signals that are tied to the timing ofthe codes in the tracked GPS satellite signals to control the timing ofdata collection by the digitizer units; and a data recording and controlcenter for collecting and analyzing the data provided by the respectivedigitizer units.
 11. The system of claim 10 wherein the base and theslave GPS receivers produce associated range information, and the datarecording and control center collects the range information from theslave GPS receivers over an extended period of time and batch processesthe information to calculate the positions of the respective slave GPSreceivers.
 12. The system of claim 11 wherein the data recording andcontrol center returns the calculated positions to the respective slaveGPS receivers, and the respective slave GPS receivers utilize thecalculated positions and the tracking assistance information to acquireand track signals from at least one GPS satellite.
 13. The system ofclaim 10 wherein the base GPS receivers provide tracking assistanceinformation associated with the portions of the sky for which the viewsof the respective base GPS receivers are unimpeded.
 14. The system ofclaim 10 wherein the one or more base GPS receivers are locatedrespectively at locations of digitizer units.
 15. A deformationmonitoring system including: one or more base GPS receivers that haveassociated antennas with substantial views of the sky, the one or morebase receivers acquiring and tracking GPS satellite signals andproviding range information; a plurality of slave GPS receiversselectively located over the site being monitored, the slave GPSreceivers acquiring and tracking GPS satellite signals and providingrange information; and a data recording and control center forcollecting the range information over an extended period of time andbatch processing the information to calculate the positions of therespective slave GPS receivers, and collecting and analyzing the rangeinformation provided by the slave GPS receivers to determine relativemovement that indicates deformation.
 16. The system of claim 15 whereinthe data recording and control center returns the calculated positionsto the respective slave GPS receivers, and the respective slave GPSreceivers utilize the calculated positions and the tracking assistanceinformation to acquire and track signals from at least one GPS satelliteand produce timing signals that are tied to the timing of the codes inthe tracked GPS satellite signal.
 17. The system of claim 15 wherein adigitizer unit that is associated with a slave GPS receiver that haslost the GPS satellite signals uses timing signals provided by aneighboring slave GPS receiver that is tracking at least one GPSsatellite signal.